Post by Gman on Jul 5, 2005 20:25:58 GMT -5

A tremendous amount of knowledge is gained... thanks Gus...

My experience is... R12 used thru '93... then in '94, changes were made for R134... then major changes in '95 and up (which I know for a fact is the same as '96). This '95 and up change has an entirely different compressor (that uses different upper and lower mtg. brackets) totally different lines and hook up arrangement... as well as a larger pulley on the clutch.

Post by sapien on Jul 5, 2005 22:10:31 GMT -5

interesting to know! so the '94 is a unique setup when it comes to repairs; similar to the old system but the fittings and some other parts are slightly different to accommodate R134a... that would explain why I had to reuse the manifold that bolts on top of the compressor body. (I'm still baffled by why the replacement belt gave me trouble; it looked like it should have fit, and the pulley seemed to be the same size as on the original compressor, but even with the compressor all the way to the left there wasn't enough slack to slip it on.)

yes I've learned a lot from this little adventure, but if all turns out well it will have saved me nearly $400 in parts and labor!

Post by Gman on Jul 7, 2005 21:32:57 GMT -5

The newer compressors... as I refer to as '95 thru '98... have the hose connections one behind the other (as looking from the front of the car) with no manifold... as opposed to the '90 thru '94 compressors where hose fittings are side by side and bolt to a manifold... and there's a big difference in the belt length.

I checked my Receiver/driers and both the '92 and the '96 have the raised triangular boss on top where it's manifold bolts...

I'll check my '90 '93 and '94 and let you know if any other differences in the compressors and... if I find a receiver/drier like the other one you pictured...

Post by 94box on Jul 9, 2005 14:50:01 GMT -5

interesting notes about the a/c. i replaced the condenser on my 94 three years ago. the receiver drier i used was exactly the one in your picture, on the right hand side for the 134a. i agree with you on the torque, i barely torqued the receiver drier bolts to 5 pounds for fear of ripping the threads, i was told to use pag100 oil for the 134a a/c system, at least thats what the dealer gave me. if you need suzuki part numbers (canadian) for replacement o-rings, let me know and i can e-mail them to you. I also had a touch time with the 36.5 inch belt, had to put belt on a/c pulley and crank over crank with socket/ratchet for it to go on.

Post by sapien on Jul 9, 2005 15:22:37 GMT -5

hmm well you were more determined than me... the 37" belt fit much more easily

when you turn the crank like that do you have to put the tranny in neutral and/or take out the spark plugs? I'll need to know for when I replace the timing belt and adjust the valve lash

I'm getting a bit of a whining/rotating metallic chirp noise from the pulley on the compressor at 2000+ rpm, hopefully it will go away with break-in? I don't recall that those pulleys need to be lubed or anything

Post by 94box on Jul 17, 2005 13:56:24 GMT -5

interesting read on the a/c,unfortunately, I am not too fond of my suzuki now, my compressor impacted, got a mechanic to listen too it, said it was the compressor and not the clutch, as it made more noise, i shut the damn thing off and now im waiting for a new compressor.

here is the scoop:

1994 sidekick jlx auto with r134a, 1995 used a different compressor and bracket, cost at dealer for new nippodenso compressor is $1,024 and receiver drier $120 (canadian, and thats with a 15% discount since I used to work at dealer) PLEASE USE THE RIGHT REFRIGERANT OIL, on compressor it says use 8 type nippo oil, THIS TRANSLATES TO PAG46 LOW VISCOSITY OIL -- DO NOT USE ANY OTHER VISCOSITY OR ESTER OIL AS IT WILL DAMAGE THE COMPRESSOR. i replaced the condenser two years ago and the dealer gave me pag100 oil, this is incorrect!!! nippo oil crosses over to pag46. Please keep this in mind. conversely, the sanden compressor takes pag100 oil.

So thats in a nut-shell. I will flush the lines with an a/c flush, put 2 ounces of oil in the compressor, one once in the drier, and mechanic will add another one ounce when evac and charging. TOTAL OIL CAPACITY IS ONLY 3.5 OUNCES. refrigerant r134a is 1.5 pounds (around 21 ounces).

hope this info helps. I have no idea why my compressor went out, not impressed at the moment. anyhow, i'll try not to lose my cool even though my sidekick has

Post by Gman on Jul 17, 2005 18:36:01 GMT -5

Those brackets both top and bottom, are about 1 cm offset toward the front... along with the pulley size difference...

The rare bracket would be the '95 8V top bracket because it was only made one year... and then only on 2WD 2Doors...

I recently used the A/C system out of a '95 8V in my '95 Sidekick (4WD). Fortunate that I waited to gas it up... because the hose going from the compressor to the condenser turned out to be different also... and seriously rubbs against the air filter box... which was not close at all in the 8V installation...

Then my recent purchase...the Purple Tracker is a '95 2wd (8V) and had some A/C, P/S bracket issues... I noticed the Top bracket was missing altogether... so I was pleased to have the 8V bracket that wasn't usable from the earlier project (the Sidekick 16V)...

Thanks for the oil Specifications... I'm using all three compressors and will have to make a big notation to remember... by the time I get around to them all...

Post by sapien on Jul 18, 2005 20:33:12 GMT -5

we've had a terrible heat wave lately, my Geo was sitting out in the hot sun all day and when I left work it was a whopping 132°F inside after 15 minutes of driving the air coming out of the center vents was down to 46°F and close to 40° by the time I got home

I still have a squeaky pulley noise between 2000-3000 rpm when the clutch is not engaged. I was told to carefully check the gap between the pulley & clutch all around, and tap it with a hammer to make sure it's centered

Post by 94box on Jul 18, 2005 20:52:49 GMT -5

for gaspien, you do not need to remove a spark plug nor put the vehicle in neutral (for an automatic) when you turn the engine over by hand using a socket and ratchet, the best way i found was a 3/8 inch socket with a ratchet works good, let me know when you are doing a t-belt and i can give you my two cents since i replaced mine last year,

regarding your noise, there should be a very small gap between the clutch and pulley when disengaged, i recommend your mechanic have a listen to it since there should be no noise at all,